USA TODAY International Edition
Putin warns of new arms race
Remarks follow Trump exit from missile accord
Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Wednesday that Moscow will target the U.S. with its hypersonic missiles if the Trump administration follows its scrapping of a key arms control agreement by deploying new intermediate-range missiles in Europe.
In his state-of-the-nation address to Russian lawmakers, Putin said Russia was ready for talks with the U.S. on disarmament issues, “but we won’t knock on the closed door anymore,” Russia’s state-owned TASS news agency reported.
The Trump administration announced this month that it would withdraw from the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces treaty over what it said was Russian violation of the Cold War pact.
The INF Treaty, signed in 1987 by President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, covers deployed and non-deployed groundbased short-range missiles and intermediate-range missiles.
Such weapons take only minutes to reach their targets, leaving no time for decision-makers and raising the likelihood of a global nuclear conflict over a false warning.
In abandoning the treaty, Trump accused Moscow of violating the agreement with “impunity” by deploying banned missiles.
Trump said in a statement that the U.S. would “move forward” with developing its own response options to Russia’s deployment of banned cruise missiles that could target Western Europe.
Putin, addressing the Russian Federal Assembly, denied treaty violations but said the Kremlin would respond with weapons aimed at the U.S. if Washington deploys new missiles in Europe.
The Russian leader also warned that Russia would not only aim its new, modern weapons at any country hosting any newly deployed weapons, but also at the U.S. itself.
“I will say it directly and explicitly so that no one could reproach us about anything and so that everyone could understand what we are talking about here,” he said.
“Russia will be forced to create and deploy those types of weapons, which could be used not only against those regions from where we will face a direct threat, but also against those regions, hosting the centers, where decisions are taken on using those missile systems threatening us.”
He included praise for the development of Russia’s Zircon missile that he claimed could fly at nine times the speed of sound with a range of 620 miles.
Putin also praised Russia’s new nuclear-powered cruise missiles and nuclear-powered underwater drones that have undergone successful testing.
Noting that any U.S. intermediaterange missiles in Europe would take only 10 to 12 minutes to hit Moscow, Putin said such steps would “sharply deteriorate international security and create serious threats to Russia.”
“This is a very serious danger to us,” he added.
“In this case, we will be forced, and ... we will be forced to envisage tit-for-tat and asymmetric measures.
“We need peace, and the entire effort on increasing our defensive capacity will pursue just one goal: It is aimed at ensuring security of our country and citizens so that no one could think about aggression against Russia and even try to use the methods of military pressure against our country.”